Melania Trump denies Epstein ties, seeks hearing

Eligible active-duty U.S. Air Force aviators can receive up to $50,000 a year in bonuses under the service’s fiscal 2026 aviation bonus program, according to a Wednesday Air Force release.

The program offers the incentive to select aviators in exchange for an active-duty service commitment. Eligible groups include remotely piloted aircraft pilots, air battle managers, and combat systems officers, according to the release.

“The aviation bonus is an incentive that helps us retain expertise and ensures we have the right mix of experienced aviators to meet warfighting demands today and into the future,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach said in the release.

The Air Force said the 2026 program increased compensation for shorter contract lengths, particularly for fighter, bomber, and U-2 aviators.

Bonus rates vary by career field and experience level. Eligible aviators can receive up to $50,000 a year for contracts ranging from three to 12 years, for a maximum total of $600,000, according to the release.

To qualify, airmen must be lieutenant colonels or below, qualified for operational flying duty, and entitled to monthly aviation incentive pay. The program applies to active-duty airmen and Air Reserve Component airmen serving in the Voluntary Limited Period of Active Duty Program.

Applications opened April 1 and will close May 31.

The U.S. Army advanced at least two bidders in its Flight School Next program, moving closer to shifting initial rotary-wing pilot training to contractors.

Bell and M1 Support Services said this week that they had advanced in the competition. The Army has not said publicly how many companies remain.

Under the proposal, a contractor-owned, contractor-operated school would provide aircraft maintenance, academic instruction, and flight training, and use a new training aircraft. Contractors would be expected to produce 900 to 1,500 pilots a year, replacing the Army’s current initial-entry rotary-wing training program.

Congress placed restrictions on the effort in the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, requiring the Army to justify the training model and show it is effective before funds can be used to proceed.

The bids centered on different aircraft. Bell proposed its Bell 505 helicopter. M1 proposed the Robinson Helicopters R66. The Army now trains rotary-wing pilots on the UH-72A Lakota.

The overhaul followed broader military aviation safety concerns. Pentagon data released in 2025 showed about a 55% increase in severe accidents in fiscal 2024 compared with four years earlier. In the first half of fiscal year 2023, more than a dozen Army aviators died in helicopter crashes, prompting an aviation-wide stand down in April 2023. During that pause, the service found its pilots had significantly less experience than pilots during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The U.S. Navy added free high-speed Wi-Fi to unaccompanied housing in Italy and Greece as part of a broader Defense Department effort to improve service members’ quality of life.

Naval Support Activity Naples and Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy, along with Naval Support Activity Souda Bay in Greece, began offering the service April 1, according to a Navy release.

The Defense Department announced the free Wi-Fi initiative in September 2024. Brendan Owens, then assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations, and environment, called the need for free Wi-Fi “mission essential” in 2024.

The program officially launched in November 2025 and had reached 86% completion, with service available in 827 of 952 buildings, the Navy said.

As of February, about 71% of residents in buildings where the service was available had signed up, according to the Navy. The service said 84% of those living in eligible buildings reported satisfaction with the program.

Residents who enroll also can choose subsidized speed upgrades.

A U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton surveillance drone disappeared from online flight-tracking sites after declaring an in-flight emergency while flying over the Persian Gulf, according to publicly available tracking data.

The drone had completed about three hours over the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz and appeared to be returning to Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy. The tracking data showed it crossed into Saudi Arabian airspace, then turned northeast toward Iran. Available data also showed it descending from about 50,000 feet to below 10,000 feet before disappearing.

At the time, the aircraft was broadcasting transponder code 7700, a general in-flight emergency signal. Unconfirmed reports said it may also have briefly sent code 7400, which indicates a lost link between a drone and its ground controllers.

The Marine Corps plans to phase out civilian positions that help families access financial and counseling services during deployments, shifting those duties to uniformed personnel and volunteers.

Under the Unit, Personal and Family Readiness Program, deployment readiness coordinators work with commanders to provide information on service members’ and families’ quality of life and to relay updates to spouses during deployments.

The civilian positions are scheduled to be eliminated by 2030, according to Ashlee Marcy, a coordinator with Marine Aircraft Group 12 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.

Maj. Jacob Getty, a spokesman for Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said the decision was outlined in a July 2025 letter of instruction distributed through the Marine Corps tasking system.

“The [program] remains a vital resource, particularly as Marines deploy in support of Operation Epic Fury,” he said in an email Thursday. “This transition is not a reduction in support; it is a return to the Corps’ enduring ethos of Marines taking care of their own.”